Unwrapped
by Pokota
Summary: What if Remus knew Sirius gave Harry the Two-Way Mirror at Christmas?
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Yep, it's me again. This story starts during the middle of the "Career Advice" chapter in Order of the Phoenix. It's amazing how much difference one small comment can make sometimes... Yes, the first bit of the dialogue is lifted from Order of the Phoenix, so I do need to make it clear that I don't actually own the characters, dialogue, scenario, and so forth – all of that is the property of J.K. Rowling._

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><p>"Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place!"<p>

It was Harry's first time making a Floo Call, and he did not yet know what to expect. True to form, the emerald fires took only his head to the fireplace in Grimmauld Place, leaving the rest of his body in Umbridge's office at Hogwarts. His head spun its way through the Floo Network, arriving at the desired destination. Harry's head felt as though it had gone through an exceptionally hot electric washing machine, and his knees were already objecting to having been left behind in a position Harry never expected to be in.

"Sirius?"

A man sitting in the room jumped and looked around. As it happened, it was not Sirius Black, but rather it was Remus Lupin, one time Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher and part-time Werewolf. He was understandably shocked at seeing Harry's head in the fire.

"Harry!" Remus practically yelled. "What are you – what's happened, is everything all right?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "I just wondered – I mean, I just fancied a – a chat with Sirius."

Lupin frowned. "Sirius told me that he gave you James' old Two-Way Mirror before you went back to the School, but I'm guessing Snape took it from you and-"

Harry cut Lupin off before he could go any further. "Two-Way Mirror?"

Lupin smiled, forgetting that Harry was making a Floo-call from Hogwarts. "It was one of our better inventions; I'll probably talk the Twins through making a pair. In short, they allowed James and Sirius to talk to each other when they were in separate detentions. It's a bit like a portable telephone, only you can see the person on the other end."

Sirius came down the stairs, looking fairly flustered. "Remus, I heard you call Harry's name, is everything- Harry! Why are you in the Floo? Did Snape take the Mirror?"

"Actually I never opened the package." Harry admitted, sheepishly. "I'm in Umbridge's office to use her Floo since it's the only one here not being monitored."

Sirius gave a bark-like laugh. "I see... how, may I ask, did you convince Umbridge to let her use her floo to call me? She's not about to burst through the floo to come get me, is she?"

Remus shook his head. "She wouldn't be able to get in because of the Fidelius charm... but if Harry was able to name this place clearly enough for the Floo, then that's a hole in the charm that we should have Dumbledore re-check."

"Guys, my knees are hurting and I've probably only got about ten minutes of distraction left before I get interrupted." Harry said.

Sirius wagged his finger. "It's your own fault if you get caught doing this, Harry. Especially since I gave you a foolproof way to contact me, one that gets around every ward known to Wizardry."

"Is it completely undetectable?" Harry asked. He wasn't willing to take risks. Well, okay, maybe he was, considering his current predicament, but Umbridge's Floo _was_ unmonitored.

"It's better than running up Umbridge's Floo bill," Remus joked, "though that in and of itself would be a decent revenge."

Harry heard footsteps in the distance. "Is Kreacher coming down the stairs?"

Sirius shook his head. "It's on your end. Harry, promise me that you'll use the Two-Way as soon as you get a chance."

Harry nodded, and pulled his head out of the fire...

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><p>Harry was scouting out the seventh floor corridor before even thinking about using the mirror. His dorm wouldn't be a safe place to do this, even if the rest of the Fifth Year Boys were on his side after the Quibbler Interview, as it was likely his room was 'bugged'. Likewise, the Common Room would be insecure due to Umbridge policing the fires every night. The only safe place Harry could think of to contact Sirius from would be the Room of Requirement, but even that was guarded.<p>

Harry paced back and forth, invisibly, as he considered the Aurors that had been stationed across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. _I need a safe place to contact Sirius from, a place where nobody else can enter. I need a way to get around Umbridge's paranoia._

To his amazement, on the third pass there was writing on the wall that neither of the Aurors seemed to have noticed. _Hogwarts Holds Many Secrets. _Harry smacked himself in the head when he realized what Hogwarts was trying to tell him.

_Of course_, Harry said to himself later, _I should have thought of the Chamber of Secrets long before this_, _but I had tried to forget everything about the Chamber after what happened last time. But if the Castle is directing me to the Chamber, then the Chamber will see use once again._

One quick, invisible trip to the second floor Girl's Bathroom confirmed Harry's suspicions – that only three people at Hogwarts knew where the Entrance was, and only one person at Hogwarts could even use it. Making sure that the coast was clear, he whispered for the one being that could help him at this point. "Myrtle! Myrtle!"

Myrtle emerged from her U-Bend, and floated over to where Harry's voice was coming from. "Harry? Is that you? Are you dead?"

Harry sighed and removed the Invisibility Cloak. "Myrtle, can you do me a huge favor?"

Myrtle, who looked slightly crestfallen that Harry was in fact still alive, nodded. "I can, though I don't see why I should."

Harry ploughed on through the depressed ghost's objections. "I'm going to practice opening and closing the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and I want you to try and learn how to open and close the chamber – I need to see if I can open it from the other side once it's been closed."

Myrtle looked at Harry slyly. "Are you planning on finally sneaking Ginny to a quiet corner of the castle?"

Harry blushed at the idea of taking anybody, least of all Ginny, into the Chamber of Secrets for some alone time. "It's more that I need a place where Umbridge can't find me."

Myrtle smirked. "I suppose I can try and learn Parseltongue, if it helps _you_."

It took a few minutes of work, but Harry was finally able to open – and more importantly _close_ – the Chamber of Secrets. Myrtle was also progressing well, having managed to open the Chamber on her fifth try, and closed it on her fourth.

Harry smiled. "Are you certain _you're_ not a Parselmouth?"

Myrtle's laugh was an interesting sound, one Harry was sure he didn't particularly want to hear again. "I may be, I may not be. It doesn't hurt that I was hearing those sounds a lot a few years ago."

_This is true_, Harry said to himself, and opened the chamber once more. "Myrtle, I want you to close the entrance behind me. If anyone that's not Ron or Hermione asks you,_ you haven't seen me_."

And with that, Harry slid into the place where he and Ginny had almost died. As he slid down, his mind remained fixated on one thing. _Would Ginny be willing to come back down here with me?_

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><p>Harry decided to take no chances, and made his way to the area where the Basilisk had nearly killed him. Once there, he noticed that there was no smell of rotting flesh, which his nose thought was odd. Lying where the Basilisk's corpse should have been was merely the skeleton of the gigantic thing. The fangs were still on the skull, save for the one lying near a pool of black, the one he had stabbed the Diary with so long ago...<p>

Pushing the memories out of his mind, Harry lit his wand and unwrapped the package that Sirius had given him months before. On the back was what appeared to be a hastily-scribbled message from his godfather.

_This is a two-way mirror. I've got the other. If you need to speak to me, just say my name into it; you'll appear in my mirror and I'll be able to talk in yours. James and I used to use them when we were in separate detentions._

Harry glanced around in a fit of paranoia. _Will I be able to get out of here by myself?_ As he thought this, he realized that a patch of the wall was glowing. He put the mirror in his pocket and walked to the glowing wall.

_Where there's a will, there's a way._

Another message from the school. Harry placed his hand to the wall, and to his amazement the wall became the seventh floor corridor that the Room of Requirement could be accessed from. He flinched when he heard an unfamiliar voice behind him.

"So you truly _are_ the one that killed the Basilisk. I was wondering if you'd return here."

Harry spun around, and faced a ghost that looked familiar.

"Who are you?" Harry asked apprehensively. His wand was raised, though he had no idea if he could do anything to a ghost.

"I'm Salazar Slytherin."

Harry's mind was racing. Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts, constructor of the Chamber of Secrets, and ancestor of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Considered the source of modern Anti-Muggle Sentiment.

"I feel as though I should apologize to you. I never intended for my basilisk to actually attack anyone; she was supposed to guard the Chamber of Secrets. Imagine if Tom Riddle had discovered the true purpose of this place." The ghost shuddered dramatically.

Harry felt fairly confused. "What is the true purpose of this place, then, if not to house the Basilisk? Were you really enraged about muggleborns attending Hogwarts?"

The ghost held up his hands. "One question at a time, though I think I can answer both before you are looked for. The true purpose of this room is to control the... I believe you call it the 'Room of Requirement' in case the room was rendered unenterable or unusuable. Yes, I did build the Chamber of Secrets and I did store a Basilisk in here, but I never hated muggleborns – being one myself, it would be hypocritical to do so."

"Then why did you leave the other founders?" Harry asked.

"I don't remember, it's been so long. I didn't actually leave the school, though. I just hid myself down here and kept the Room of Requirement a secret from the other Founders for as long as I could. To my surprise, I was able to continue monitoring the Room's entrance even after I became a ghost." The ghost looked at the ceiling, then sighed. "You don't have much time; your friend is looking for you, and is worried about you."

"Can you change the entrance of the Room of Requirement so that it's not across from Barnabas the Barmy? It's too heavily guarded for me to enter safely, and I need to contact someone without being interrupted by anyone."

The ghost closed his eyes, and held his hand up to the wall. It shone white for a moment, then resolved itself to the patch of wall next to the Hospital Wing, bordered by a pair of statues. "The entrance has moved. Do try not to make me have to do this again anytime soon. It was nice to talk with you, young man."

Harry smiled at the ghost. "I do have one last question. Can this wall send me to where the entrance is now?"

The ghost returned Harry's smile. "The wall will take you to the Room of Requirement directly; as I said before, the Chamber of Secrets is an _emergency_ control room for the Room of Requirement for in case the room can't be accessed normally. Once you're inside, the spell you want is _Kuro Requiem. _You'll be able to change the entrance deliberately then, though if someone inside needs to escape unnoticed the room will usually change entrances and exits automatically based on need."

"Thank you... erm..." Harry said, as his hand reached up to the wall.

"Please, call me Salazar." Said the ghost warmly. "And feel free to visit me anytime, it does get awfully lonely down here."

Once within the Room of Requirement, Harry changed the Entrance to the room again – this time to across from the Honeydukes Passage on the third floor. The patch of wall appeared deserted, and the Marauder's Map confirmed that the corridor was empty. Harry took his leave and made his way to the Gryffindor Common Room to inform Ron and Hermione of this latest development...


	2. Chapter 2

"Why would he be hiding in the Chamber of Secrets, though?" Hermione asked. Dinner in the Great Hall was the normal affair it was supposed to be, though Umbridge kept looking at the Gryffindor table as though expecting a rebellion of some sort.

"He said he couldn't remember what it was." Harry said around a steak. "But given his reputation, it may be easier for him to stay hidden."

Neville leaned in and whispered a question to Harry. "Where's the entrance to the Room of Requirement now?"

Harry gave up on eating his steak, and waited for Umbridge to stop looking his way. "It's not where she thinks it is, I can tell you that much right now."

Hermione was chewing thoughtfully. "It's too bad the Twins are gone now. They'd have been perfect for controlling the Room against Umbridge."

"Would you accept the risk of them having an easy way to prank _anybody_ without detection so close to exam season?" Ginny pointed out.

There was a moment of relative silence as Hermione pondered the ramifications of this combined with her prefectual duties. "No, I suppose it's better this way. Did you at least manage to do what you meant to do originally, Harry?"

Harry stopped in mid-drink as he realized he never actually talked with Sirius in light of the developments. "Oh yeah, I should probably do that. I can show you the new location of the Room then."

Umbridge stood up. "Looks like it's time for some pie." Harry heard one of the more adventurous students in another house say. Within moments, every plate in the Great Hall had a pink pie on it. Harry sampled one – it tasted like a lemon meringue pie, though the pink coloration was more than a little confusing. This was a delicious development. Honeydukes could wait a day, though Sirius could not. Even Umbridge was enticed by the tartly sweet baked good sitting on her plate.

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><p>Of course it was too good to last. As it turned out, it was a parting shot from Fred and George – the pies had been spiked with one of the ingredients that went into Fever Fudge, so half of the people at Hogwarts had wound up visiting the hospital wing with mild fevers. Oddly convenient that Madam Pomfrey had been given enough Antidote Fudge to cover almost half of the population of Hogwarts. Unfortunately, a small handful of Hogwarts denizens had been unable to get their hands on some Antidote Fudge before Poppy ran dry.<p>

Interestingly enough, all of those unfortunate few were Umbridge sympathizers. Even more interestingly, the pie that Harry and his friends had eaten from hadn't been spiked at all. Strange. Harry practically bounced down to the statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor. One would have thought that after what had happened with Sirius during his third year, someone would have mentioned to Dumbledore that this was a vulnerability, but it was as unguarded as ever.

Or at least, Harry saw it was unguarded. He didn't want to run the risk of waking into an Auror while taking an unauthorized trip to Honeydukes, so he focused on the task at hand.

_I need a place where no Umbridge sympathizers can find me, a place where I can talk to Sirius in peace. I need the Room of Requirement._

With these thoughts in his head, Harry paced back and forth three times. Sure enough, the entrance was there, and he entered without a second thought. Inside, it was a nice small room with a fireplace and a comfy chair. Was this the original Room of Requirement, or was this simply what the Room decided he needed in order to talk to Sirius in peace?

Settling into the chair, he decided on a whim that he should have the Marauder's Map ready. After a quick scan (was that Lee Jordan up near Umbridge's office?), he was comfortable enough to tap on the mirror and ask for Sirius. After only a few moments, Harry and Sirius were getting caught up, and eventually the question of locations came up.

"Sirius, have you ever heard of the Room of Requirement?" Harry asked.

"The room of what?" Sirius said. "You mean that room on the seventh floor that you were using for the headquarters of the D.A.? Isn't that being guarded by Umbridge's goons?"

Harry grinned. "If you can get inside, you can change the entrance. The spell is _Kuro Requiem_, and it's currently across from the Honeydukes Passage entrance."

Now Sirius was grinning. "Across from the Honeydukes passage? Tonks is good friends with the owner to there... question time. How did you find out about this if the seventh floor corridor is still being guarded?"

Harry glanced around conspiratorially, and Sirius laughed at the theatrics. "Would you belive me if I told you I've been in the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yes, you've told me that story already." Sirius replied. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Hogwarts holds many secrets, and at least one room of it can actually think for itself – this one. You four-"

"Three" Sirius corrected.

"You _four_ explored more of the castle than any other collection of people aside from the Founders themselves, and one of the Founders was able to conceal an entire underground labyrinth from the other three, and if his ghost is telling the truth-"

"Wait wait wait, you met the Ghost of Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts, constructor of the Chamber of Secrets, and ancestor of Tom Marvolo Riddle. The Wizard considered the source of modern Anti-Muggle Sentiment. And he _helped_ you?"

"You won't believe half of what I have to say about him, and I've only met him once, but all the same yes. Yes to him helping me. Anyway, if his ghost is telling the truth, the real secret was the Room of Requirement."

Their conversation carried on for a while. Harry had fun just goofing off with his godfather, and Sirius seemed to be having fun playing off of what Harry would say or occasionally do. At one point, Remus and Tonks both got roped in to the conversation.

"There's a secret passage into Hogwarts from Honeydukes?" Tonks asked. "I never knew that."

"The trapdoor in the storage room leads to the Statue of the One-Eyed Humpbacked Crone on the Third Floor." Sirius explained. "It's where I was getting in from during Harry's 3rd year."

"I was wondering which passage you were using." Remus said.

"Hey, is there any way for us to get a Quibbler to the Flumes, preferably the Harry Potter Interview edition?" Sirius asked. "It might be helpful for Harry to have a known ally in the town."

"I'll stop by the Twins' new shop on my way home, they always have copies of that issue." Tonks said. "They said yesterday that they were planning something for after they left, something about baked bads."

Harry laughed. "That would explain the pink pies." He yawned. "I wonder what time it is? Curfew's only eight nowadays after that kerfuffle with the Defense Association..."

Sirius sighed. "Is this the only room you can use the Mirror from?"

"It's the only room where I feel safe using it. I'm going to move the entrance to the Room of Requirement to a new location, anybody got any suggestions?"

The response was pretty much unanimous. "The kitchens!", and after only a few moments Harry had his things packed and was nicking a perfectly normal pink lemon meringue pie from the kitchens.

He figured that Umbridge could use a treat after what she'd been through this night. Whether she'd accept it or not was up to her.

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><p><em><strong>Author's Note: <strong>The creative juices were flowing, so I just started writing. A muffin if you caught the reference. I'm hoping that I can write something for Vacation or Ribbon and Stone soon._


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